Connor's Secrets
by Shunters
Summary: Connor is too strange to be from the same place as everyone else, I mean, his fashion, the conspiracies, really, who does he think he's fooling? But the thing is, he's actually fooling everyone. Connor was also in one of the most famous bands ever, but no one knew that either. And then the Anomalies came along. And everything went to hell.
1. Background

**Connor's Secrets**

 **Summary:** Connor is too strange to not be from the same place as everyone else, I mean, his fashion, the conspiracies, really, who does he think he's fooling? But the thing is, he's actually fooling everyone. Connor was in one of the most famous bands ever, but no one knew that either. And then the Anomalies came along.

 **Warnings:** Nothing bad for this very, very short chapter.

 **A/N: The chapters will get longer. This was originally going to be a one-shot about Connor in a band, but it turned into a Alice/Primeval, with Connor having been in a band. Enjoy! Shunters**

 **Background**

Alice had gone back to her world. And Hatter hadn't followed. He chose to stay. He hadn't told her why, but he had wanted to clear things up in Wonderland before getting all the necessary documents, then move to Oyster World, _far_ away from Alice.

It wasn't that he disliked Alice, he liked her a lot, just not enough to be around her 24/7 like you are in the Oyster World.

David Hatter took a deep breath and took his first step into an Oyster University. He made his way to his first class - Evolutionary Zoology with Palaeontologist, Professor Nick Cutter. He walked inside the classroom, a new man, and took a seat.

"Hey," the man with ginger hair next to him said, "I'm Tom, and this is Duncan," he indicated to the man next to him.

"Connor Temple," he replied.


	2. The Friends

**Connor's Secrets**

 **Summary:** Connor is too strange to not be from a different place to everyone else, I mean, his fashion, the conspiracies, really, who does he think he's fooling? But the thing is, he's actually fooling everyone. Connor was in one of the most famous bands ever, but no one knew that either. And then the Anomalies came along.

 **Warnings:** Bad language in this chap.

 **A/N: The chapters will get longer. If you're wandering where I get this idea from, the answer is: Hyde Park. There was this singer 'Gaz Coombes' and he looked like a monkey version of Connor, the drummer looked like…well, you'll find out who, the keyboarder looked like Tom and the guitarist looked like Duncan, there was also this base player with a moustache so I named him Steve. Enjoy! Shunters**

 **The Friends**

Connor had only made a few friends in his university. But he didn't want any more, he had the four best friends anyone could hope for.

Tom, Duncan, James, Steve and Connor they were the best of friends. Although James wasn't actually a student, he was...well, the group didn't exactly know what he was, but they did know that he could bang the shit out of the drums and was a nerd with them. Steve was...well, Steve had a fricken' amazing moustache. They were all nerds, but took hardly any classes together (beside James), and they all played an instrument or two.

The friends formed a band; The Sinner Saints. This was their alter ego. They wore different clothes, did their hair differently and acted differently. The strange thing was that no one recognised them in the university, Connor mused this was because the uni saw them as invisible. Also because Tom wore a brown wig, to cover his ginger hair, and Connor would gel his hair down in uni and put make-up over his natural guy-liner eyes to prevent people from seeing it.

But it gave the group a nice feeling, to walk into the uni and see groups of people wearing their merch. and singing their songs (very, very badly).


	3. The Gig

**Connor's Secrets**

 **Summary:** Connor is too strange to not be from a different place to everyone else, I mean, his fashion, the conspiracies, really, who does he think he's fooling? But the thing is, he's actually fooling everyone. Connor was in one of the most famous bands ever, but no one knew that either. And then the Anomalies came along.

 **Warnings:** Bad language.

 **A/N: See, I told you they'd get longer. Three chaps in one night, that's a record for me. I do not own the songs or the TV Shows this is based off. The songs are:**

"Praise" by Sevendust

"I Predict A Riot" by Kaiser Chiefs

"Ruby" by Kaiser Chiefs "Pinball Wizard" by The Who "Joker and the Thief" by Wolfmother "You May Be Right" by Billy Joel "I Wanna Rock" by Twister Sister. The 'Rock of Ages' version is good too. "I Love Rock and Roll" by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. I would recommend the 'Rock of Ages' version though. "Pour Some Sugar On Me" by Def Leppard "Nothin' But a Good Time" by Poison. But if you're listening to this one, the best version is the 'Rock of Ages' one.

 **Enjoy! Shunters**

 **The Gig**

Connor walked out onto the stage. He wore black skinny jeans, a blue T-shirt with claw marks printed on, and dark converse. Since he had come to Aboveland, Connor had bought tons and tons of converse (not cheap, let me tell you). He had a black version of his Hatter hat, with his hair naturally quiffing over the edge and his natural guy-liner.

Connor walked up to his microphone and announced to the crowd, "I'm Gaz Coombes, and we are The Sinner Saints."

The crowd went wild as they screamed and cheered. James was on the drums, Steve was base guitar, Tom was keyboard, Duncan was electric guitar and Connor was the lead singer (but could play the guitar as well).

The band started to play as Connor began to sing his first song. While singing, he danced like a maniac, jumping up and down, running around the stage, jumping on the speakers, and getting the crowd to join in with his crazy daning.

 _What did you expect?  
Fools often sometimes forget  
Who really knows what's the truth  
Often dignified  
How funny changing the tide  
Feels like you already knew  
(Praise) like the devil  
(Connect) you would never  
(Sick Man) running circles  
Feels like you already knew  
(Praise) like the devil  
(Connect) you would never  
(Sick Man) running circles  
Feels like you already knew_

 _Save you  
I would never  
Deny you  
Even though your hate for me is strong_

 _(See) I'm not what you  
(Think) I'm the one who'll  
(Be) what you never  
Thought would be nothin' and now _

_(See) I'm not what you  
(Think) I'm the one who'll  
(Be) what you never  
Thought would be nothin' and now_

 _(AFRAID TO OPEN UP YOUR EYES)  
And now you realize_

 _Always you lived in a dream  
How would it feel if you could  
See past the lies  
Oblivious to all of my cries  
No hope when I knew that you could  
_  
 _(See) I'm not what you  
(Think) I'm the one who'll  
(Be) what you never  
Thought would be nothin' and now _

_(See) I'm not what you  
(Think) I'm the one who'll  
(Be) what you never  
Thought would be nothin' and now_

 _(See) I'm not what you  
(Think) I'm the one who'll  
(Be) what you never  
Thought would be nothin' and now _

_(See) I'm not what you  
(Think) I'm the one who'll  
(Be) what you never  
Thought would be nothin' and now_

 _(See) I'm not what you  
(Think) I'm the one who'll  
(Be) what you never  
Thought would be nothin' and now_

At the end of the song, the crowd cheered, and Connor announced, "thank you, thank you. Have you got anything you want to here?"

"I Predict A Riot," most of the crowd called.

"You got it," Connor replied.

{A/N: If you want a visual for what Connor did during 'I Predict A Riot' just watch watch?v=3sSRVE-ijUM , watch?v=TIom8EYNHaA , watch?v=g53DRtkogeA anything like those}

The crowd once again cheered.

The intro for "Ruby" came on and the crowd started screaming again.

{A/N: A visual for Ruby: watch?v=63G0h1DTLVg }

The band then played "Pinball Wizard", "Joker and the Thief", "You May Be Right", "I Wanna Rock", "I Love Rock and Roll", "Pour Some Sugar On Me", and their final song was "Nothin' But a Good Time".

 _Now Listen  
Not a dime, I can't pay my rent  
I can barely make it through the week  
Saturday night I'd like to make my girl  
But right now I can't make ends meet_

 _I'm always working slaving every day  
Gotta get away from that same old same old  
I need a chance just to get away  
If you could hear me think this is what I'd say_

 _Don't need nothin' but a good time  
How can I resist  
Ain't looking for nothin' but a good time  
And it don't get better than this_

 _They say I spend my money on women and wine  
But I couldn't tell you where I spent last night  
I'm really sorry about the shape I'm in  
I just like my fun every now and then_

 _I'm always working slaving every day  
Gotta get away from that same old same old  
I need a chance just to get away  
If you could hear me think this is what I'd say_

 _Don't need nothin' but a good time  
How can I resist  
Ain't looking for nothin' but a good time  
And it don't get better than this_

Connor runs up and jumps onto the drum kit, addressing the audience; __

Speaking: _You see I raise a toast to all of us  
Who are breaking our backs every day  
If wanting the good life is such a crime  
Lord, then put me away  
Here's to ya_

Connor jumps down (literally jumps, really coolly) as Duncan starts, _[Guitar solo]_

Singing: _Don't need nothin' but a good time  
How can I resist  
Ain't looking for nothin' but a good time  
And it don't get better than this_

 _Don't need nothin' but a good time  
How can I resist  
Ain't looking for nothin' but a good time  
And it don't get better than this_

 _Don't need nothin' but a good time  
How can I resist  
Ain't looking for nothin' but a good time  
And it don't get better than this_

"Thank you London. You have been wonderful. Goodnight and God bless," Connor shouted out to the crowd.

The crowd cheered wildly, shouting all sorts of praise and pleas at the band.

The band left the stage and started to walk back to their rooms, when James' phone rang.

"James Lester," he said into the phone, "right. Of course," he walked down the busy corridor to find a quiet place to talk to the guy on the phone.

"Who do ya suppose that was?" Connor asked his friends.

"No idea," Steve replied and shrugged.

The rest of the band went to their rooms.

A month later, the band split up. Steve went to work on a 70's show (because of his moustache) and James got a promotion and so had no time for the band. Tom, Ducan and Connor were still best friends though, and still hung out all the time.


	4. The First Anomaly

**Connor's Secrets**

 **Summary:** Connor is too strange to be from the same place as everyone else, I mean, his fashion, the conspiracies, really, who does he think he's fooling? But the thing is, he's actually fooling everyone. Connor was also in one of the most famous bands ever, but no one knew that either. And then the Anomalies came along. And everything went to hell.

 **Warnings:** Bad language in this chap.

 **A/N: If you've never been to Hyde Park, I can highly recommend it. My sister, Meggysmeg, and myself went this year. It was amazing! So anyway, On with the fic. Shunters**

 **The First Anomaly**

Connor found the article on a strange monster 'giant undiscovered predator'. It reminded him too much of Wonderland to not explore it, after all, he was into most conspiracies. He took the article to his professor, who thought he was crazy…fantastic, just, brilliant.

Then he saw the rips in the truck and almost slipped into Wonderlander tracking mode, "Can you imagine how much force it took to rip this thing open. Look at the size of the marks, you know, if you want my opinion, it's prob- you don't, do you?"

But Cutter wanted Stephan's opinion, purely because he was his friend (and a great tracker, but…). If Connor showed them his true Wonderland Outlandish tracking capabilities, then they would love him, but he couldn't, it would draw too much attention to himself.

Well, he could at least help, "can I say something?"

Cutter walked away, ' _No, apparently not.'_

And then he found out about Cutter's wife. It sounded exactly like what happened with all the Oysters.

They left the creature siting, Cutter wanting a drink. While Cutter was inside ( _not_ getting drunk, he assured Stephan), Connor showed the lab tech his database on dinosaurs. Even if he said so, Connor had not been building the database since he was 14, he in fact built it overnight. Hey, what was a guy from an alternate dimension who was used to sleeping at most 8 hours every night supposed to do with his time?

And then that government lady showed up. Of course it was a cover-up. So the group headed back to the Forest of Dean.

It felt good to get back into a forest again, track something, it was fun. But, what wasn't fun, pretending to be an imbécil, and then have Cutter wave Stephan's tracking skills in his face. Stephan had to work at his skill, Connor was natural at it, and increased his skill overtime for survival purpose, the lab tech did it for fun. Connor couldn't help but blurt out some of Stephan's achievements, sounding like just informing a colleague, but actually taking the mick. I mean, come on, wrestling a big snake, saving a large fish?! Those aren't achievements, taming a Jabberwock, hunting (and catching) a Borogrove, killing a Bandersnatch, being the first one to bring the resistance roasted Jubjub Bird, playing both sides of the court, thosemj are real achievements. And those weren't even all of Hatter's accomplishments…but Connor wasn't the Hatter anymore, so they meant nothing.

There was a cow in a tree, that was odd for Oyster World, but not for Wonderland so Connor wasn't fazed when he saw that. What did get him though, was the compass going crazy, it was just like what happed with the Looking Glass and a compass, only on a much larger scale. So by that thinking, whatever was happening was much stronger than the Looking Glass.

Then there was that girl, Abby, she reminded Connor of Alice (their names even started with the letter!). More interesting though was the fricken' _dinosaur_ standing in front of Connor. While Cutter, Abby and Jenny went to the house Abby got the lizard from, Connor decided to squeeze more out of the 'idiotic nerd' disguise he had and say random things about winning a Noble Prize to Stephan.

But then it was there, a glowing orb. It looked exactly like the Looking Glass, but broken. But the magnetic field, _that_ was something new. He needed to throw them off the Wonderland track, "maybe it's an alien spaceship?"

And then he lost the front door key to his Tea Shop. One of the only things he had left from Wonderland. _Damn._

And, of _course,_ they leave Connor with the irritating tracker. ' _Yay, that's all I need'_ Connor thought. Well, if he was going to be stuck with that guy, he might as well have some fun about it. So he milked the classic nerd "not really outdoorsy" and lists of allergies that probably don't even exist.

Then Connor brought up Abby. He could smell the sexual thoughts Stephan was having about her, so of course, he felt obliged to pretend to like her. But she made him think _way_ too much about Alice. The heat he was 'picking up' was _not_ what Stephan thought, it was tension alright, just not of the sexual kind more of the awkward 'I-swear-I've-seen-you-before-but-I-haven't' kind of tension.

So Stephan, obviously jealous, asked Connor about the girlfriend he already had. He didn't have one. He was talking about Alice when he said that. When he asked if Stephan thought Abby liked him, he didn't mean 'like-like' he meant like full stop. He was actually more excited about the dinosaur than he was Abby like/disliking him.

"What's this?" Stephan had asked about the foot print.

' _Five toes. A foot and a half long impression. Full impression – walking speed. Broken twigs and disturbed leaves around the foot indicate a four legged creature. An inch deep in the mud – heavy, at least twice the height of a human, three times as long (if the person was laying down) so at least 65 stone (910 pounds),'_ Connor deduced, _'Gorgonopsid is most likely.'_

But all he said was, "I think the scientific term is; really bad news," throwing them off the trail, remember?

He entered the info into his laptop and…yep. His guess was confirmed – a Gorgonopsid. Screw subtlety, "Stephan, if it is still out there, you have to find it. Fast."

"What about you?" Stephan asked.

He nearly accepted, but he couldn't, forget cover; he was worried he would freeze, flashes of Wonderland entering his mind, clouding his vision as he said what an old Wonderland friend had told him, "you might be a hunter. Me, I'm more logistics and, you know, back up," he had teased his friend mercilessly for that, but now he was starting to regret that as he could now relate to those feelings of fearing you'll freeze when it counts.

Then Stephan left. And Connor was now extremely board. He brought his music sound tracks up, plugged his head phones in and started to sing to his old band music. After ten minutes, he packed up and headed to the Anomaly site. He called Stephan on the way, no answer.

He called Stephan, at Cutter's request, at the Anomaly site.

"Call Stephan again," Cutter ordered for the third time.

"He's not answering," Connor told the professor.

Then the professor went through the Anomaly with the head of the SFs- all of the SFs looked like better equipped suits, which made Connor nervous- The rest sat (or stood, rather) back and waited for the pair to return.

Connor's mind began to wander, all the way back to his childhood it went;

" _Speak roughly to your little boy,  
And beat him when he sneezes:  
He only does it to annoy,  
Because he knows it teases._

 _I speak severely to my boy,  
I beat him when he sneezes;  
For he can thoroughly enjoy  
The pepper when he pleases!"_

Connor dropped the pen as he remembered his mother, high on tea, telling that to her friend. They then proceeded to beat him every time he did something they considered annoying.

He picked the pen up and realised the magnetic field had gotten weaker. When he voiced his opinion, the rest of the group became agitated.

While everyone shuffled nervously, Connor recited a poem in his head;

" _'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves  
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:  
All mimsy were the borogoves,  
And the mome raths outgrabe._

 _'Beware the Jabberwock, my son!_  
 _The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!_  
 _Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun_  
 _The frumious Bandersnatch!'_

 _He took his vorpal sword in hand:_  
 _Long time the manxome foe he sought -_  
 _So rested he by the Tumtum tree,_  
 _And stood a while in thought._

 _And, as in uffish thought he stood,_  
 _The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,_  
 _Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,_  
 _And burbled as it came!_

 _One two! One two! And through and through_  
 _The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!_  
 _He left it dead, and with its head_  
 _He went galumphing back._

 _'And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?_  
 _Come to my arms, my beamish boy!_  
 _Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'_  
 _He chortled in his joy._

 _'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves_  
 _Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:_  
 _All mimsy were the borogoves,_  
 _And the mome raths outgrabe."_

And then his mind began to wander, playing all the Wonderland poems in his head. And finally, Cutter and Captain Ryan came back through the Anomaly, stumbling. _'It must be like the Looking glass. The first time I went through the looking glass, I fell over like that as well. Mind you, some people have done worse.'_ Connor thought.

He asked what it was like, praying that it wasn't some version of Wonderland.

And then all hell broke loose. The Gorgonopsid charged through the camp, all the SF bullets doing nothing. The group scattered, running away from the man-eating predator. Stephan finally returned Connor's call (sort of). Well, in the form of ramming into the hungry dinosaur with his car. Connor suddenly hated and loved the man all at the same time. He loved him for saving everyone's lives, but hated him for not giving Connor a chance to save the day himself, prove his use.

If the situation was less tense, Connor would have laughed at Stephan's aim. Connor (Hatter was, he reminded himself) twice as good as Stephan with a gun.

' _Man, what a day,'_ Connor thought to himself, _'bed! Finally!'_

 **Well thought was the first chapter on an actually episode. Hope you liked.**

 **If you want a translation of the Jabbawock poem, here it is:**

" _ **It was 4:00 the time you broil for dinner, and the lithe & slimy Toves (lizard/badger/corkscrew)  
Did spin and make holes in the grass plot around a sundial:  
All flimsy & miserable were the Borogoves,  
And the mome green pigs something between bellowing and whistling, with a sneeze in the middle.**_

 **'Beware the Jabberwock, my son!**  
 **The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!**  
 **Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun**  
 **The frumious Bandersnatch!'**

 **He took his vorpal sword in hand:**  
 **Long time the manxome foe he sought -**  
 **So rested he by the Tumtum tree,**  
 **And stood a while in thought.**

 **And, as in uffish thought he stood,**  
 **The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,**  
 **Came whiffling through the Tulgey Wood,**  
 **And burbled as it came!**

 **One two! One two! And through and through**  
 **The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!**  
 **He left it dead, and with its head**  
 **He went galumphing back.**

 **'And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?**  
 **Come to my arms, my beamish boy!**  
 **Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'**  
 **He chortled in his joy.**

 **A repeat of the first verse, to give the poem a rounded feel.**

 **Please let me know if you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks, Shunters :)**


	5. Friends Fooling You

**Connor's Secrets**

 **Summary:** Connor is too strange to be from the same place as everyone else, I mean, his fashion, the conspiracies, really, who does he think he's fooling? But the thing is, he's actually fooling everyone. Connor was also in one of the most famous bands ever, but no one knew that either. And then the Anomalies came along. And everything went to hell.

 **Warnings:** Bad language. Again.

 **A/N: This is the second chapter on a real episode. This is mainly his thoughts and feelings during this episode, also I've changed his fashion half way through for reasons you will find out. I may make Connor go back to Wonderland, so let me know if you like that idea. Thanks! Enjoy! Shunters**

 **Friends Fooling You**

Connor bolted awake, years of sleeping in Wonderland teaching him to wake up as soon as you hear any bad sound and to sleep with one eye open. He walked cautiously over to the tent Abby was in and knocked on the side, "Abby," he whispered.

She crawled out of the tent, "what?"

"Get behind me," he may not have fancied her, but he felt protective over her, like her was with Alice.

"Ok," she said nervously and stood behind him.

Connor walked towards the rustling. He saw a flash of scales and took his chance. He leapt forward and punched whatever it was in the face, its head smashing like Mad March's ceramic head. But there was no blood. Weird. He looked down and saw that he had smashed a mechanical dinosaur to pieces, not a real one.

It was Connor's so called friends that put it there. They came out of the bushes, stunned to see their toy in pieces.

"You idiots!" Connor screamed at them.

They started laughing, then walked away, leaving Connor with the not suits which were called Police as he had learnt. _Crap._

And then Cutter had shown up. How he got Abby and himself out of trouble, Connor will never know.

Stephan inspected the robot while Cutter talked to the police, "how'd you brake it anyhow?" Stephan asked.

"I punched it," Connor said absent mindedly before he could think. Stephan gave Connor a disbelieving look, then looked to Abby who nodded her head.

"I don't know how he did it either, Stephan, but he did it," Abby told him.

Then Cutter came over and asked about what he would have done if it was a real predator. And then he talked about Abby still having skills he could use, but said nothing about Connor. Neither Abby nor Stephan told Cutter about Connor punching the robot out, which pissed Connor off more. The other three left, while Connor looked out over the lake. He wished he never left Wonderland.

With that thought, Connor swiftly turned and walked to his car. He got in and drove to a hairdressers near his apartment. He entered the salon and got his hair washed and cut to match his Wonderland style. He paid the dresser with paper money (pointless!) and left the shop. Connor drove home and took the stairs up to his level two at a time. He unlocked his door and walked inside.

Connor dug around in his wardrobe for his old Wonderlander clothes; his brown hat (yay), his brown leather coat (still good), his dark purple-blue pinstripe suit trousers and a plain red dress shirt (the patterned one would stand out _way_ too much in Oyster World). Connor threw his clothes on, tucked his shirt in and put on a purple-blue tie. He walked to his mirror and fluffed his hair to quiff over the edge of his hat, natural Hatter hair. He painted his eyes with more skin coloured eye shadow, to cover his natural guy-liner. No matter how sexy he looked with it, the Oyster World judged men who wore eyeliner. Unless they were rock stars.

Connor left his bedroom and sat on the sofa in his lounge, watching the TV. After half an hour of watching TV, Connor got bored. He left his apartment building and drove to the university campus. He parked his car and went for a walk through the campus grounds. He ended up sitting in part of the gardens, just thinking about going back to Wonderland or staying in Oyster World. He walked into the university and towards his locker, he pulled out his guitar and walked back out towards the empty garden.

Connor pulled his guitar out of its case and began to tune it. He was half way through one of his songs, when his phone rang. He stopped the song and pulled his phone out, Jenny.

"Ello. Hat- Connor Temple speaking," he really ought to stop saying Hatter.

 _"Connor, it's Jenny. We need you to come in," the female voice said._

"Oh? And why's that?" he asked.

 _"There's another Anomaly, in the underground. There's these, spider, bug things and a giant centipede," she informed him._

"Oh, really? That sounds like a fascinating job for the pest control service, not someone with no skills Cutter can use," Connor told her dryly.

 _"Oh, Connor, this is no time for sulking, lives are at stake," she scolded him._

Connor sighed, he hated being the protector. But, I suppose you can take a man out of the Outland, but you can't take the Outland out of the man, "fine. I suppose I've got nothing better to do."

 _"Great. A car's on the way," Jenny said._

When he arrived, some of the SFs were rushing off somewhere.

"Connor!" Abby called.

He smirked and walked up to her.

"What are you wearing?" she asked, shocked about his sudden fashion change.

"I can do lots of different styles, Abby, not just the massive nerd. Besides I think I might move back home, I mean, I got no job here," Connor informed her.

"Right. Wait, you can't leave," Abby complained.

"Priorities, Abby," Jenny told her.

"Yeah, sorry. Well we're looking for a giant centipede," Abby started to describe the weird bug.

"Right," Connor set up his laptop and started the search.

He used a party analogy to describe the bug. And then Stephan came out. And Connor got blamed for not knowing about the centipede being poisonous, he was only speculating. But no matter what he did, he was still a disappointment to Cutter and the rest.

Well, at least Cutter trusted him to get a bag for venom. Great.

Things were looking up when Connor told Cutter about the creature being a burrower. And then he found the hole, yes! Better yet, some of them were impressed.

Then he announced that he was going to go after the creature as well. Everyone looked shocked and, maybe, a tad annoyed by it. Wonderful.

"If I don't come back," he told Abby, "you can have my hats."

"I'll treasure them," she replied.

"On second thought, maybe you should burry them with me," he told her.

He crawled into the tunnel. It was a bit like crawling through the Rabbit Hole, but less disorienting.

They found the centipede, bullets did nothing. So Connor acted on Hatter instinct and grabbed the closest thing to him, thrusting it at the bug. The metal chair connected with a circuit box and electrocuted the bug. _Phew!_

Connor felt the need to check up on Stephan after that, so he cleaned up a bit then went to the hospital for a visit. He already knew that Abby really liked the lab tech, but his suspicions were confirmed when he asked her. He was going to open up to her about dating the Duchess when he was younger, but then made up some crap about Buffy The Vampire Slayer. But at least he made her smile and laugh for a bit.

Then he went to see Cutter back at the Anomaly site. Connor asked if his actions that day meant he was back in, the professor asked if there was any way to keep him out and that was when Connor realised that he just wanted to help the people in the Oyster World. He had done all he could for Wonderland, but Aboveland was a different story. And finally Cutter told Connor that he did a good job. He asked about a nickname, by that he meant 'Hatter' but he supposed that he wasn't clear. The answer was no, but that was what Connor thought, so he stood and left. _'Bed, here I come'_ he thought.

 **So, any thoughts? Ideas? Love it? Hate it? Let me know if you want. You like the idea of Connor going back to Wonderland? Or, should he stay? Drop me a review/PM.**

 **Also, very sorry that this took soooo long, but I wanted to update Home Again (HA) a bit.**

 **Thanks :)**

 **Shunters**


	6. Fault-lines, Old Friends and Old Lovers

**Connor's Secrets**

 **Disclaimer:** just writing for fun, making no money, I own neither Primeval nor Alice. Sadly.

 **Summary:** Connor is too strange to be from the same place as everyone else, I mean, his fashion, the conspiracies, really, who does he think he's fooling? But the thing is, he's actually fooling everyone. Connor was also in one of the most famous bands ever, but no one knew that either. And then the Anomalies came along. And everything went to hell.

 **Warnings:** Bad language. Again. I write both 'Wondaland' and Wonderland', is there a difference?

 **A/N: First, so sorry this took sooo long, but I had an operation and was out of it for 2 weeks after cus of the pain meds, then my bro smashed my laptop, and then year 11 started.**

 **This is the third chapter on a real episode. This is mainly his thoughts and feelings during this episode, also I've changed his fashion and some of the conversations. I may make Connor go back to Wonderland, so let me know if you like that idea. Thanks! Enjoy! Shunters**

 **Fault-lines, Old Friends and Old Lovers**

Lester almost smiled as he watched the video of a young man explaining how the Anomaly was remaining stable and open. He walked around to Cutter and asked the only question on his mind,

"Who's that idiot?"

"Connor Temple," the professor replied, "he looks like a half wit, but he's got a very good brain."

Lester remembered to keep his face schooled and not smile about being able to see his old friend and band member again.

"We may stand on the brink of Armageddon, but at least we have an irritating student on our side," Lester said, he's tone sarcastic to the world, but fond to those who know him, "how reassuring," he whispered as he walked past Cutter.

The professor frowned in thought. He never said that Connor was a student. He supposed the young man's age would give that appearance- as well as the clothes- but he could have been a young scientist, or a secondary lab assistant. Cutter put his thoughts on hold to speak to the group in front of him.

 **[Breakline]**

Connor woke up that morning, debating what to wear. On the one hand, he had really missed his Hatter clothes. On the other, he was afraid of being swamped by fangirls accusing him of being Gaz Coombas. Which he was, but that was beside the point. He decided to go for a mix. He wore army green combat trousers, a light blue button-up shirt, a green scarf, his black Hatter fedora and his Hatter jacket. He took the leather strap ring necklace out of a drawer and put it on. He pulled on his black fingerless gloves and combat boots and he left his flat. He was going to talk about how the second Anomaly appeared to be stable, then was going to visit Stephen, the man was getting out of the hospital today. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to go back to Wonderland or stay, but if he did go back, he wanted people's memories of him to be good.

 **[BREAKLINE]**

Apparently, Stephen couldn't remember anything after going into the tunnels. It _was_ short term, but still. That would be hard to deal with. As the man packed, Connor told him something.

"It's all been pretty scary, 'asn't it?" he asked and continued, "you know, it wasn't until you got bitten that I thought one of us might actually die from doing this. Really upset me."

The older man stopped packing and turned to Connor, "you must have gone through hell," he said sarcastically.

"Yep," he nodded, then paused and grinned at the other man.

Stephen smiled back and continued packing.

"Did make me think about what's important though," he said as he moved towards the tracker, "you know, sorts out your priorities a bit," it brought back all sorts from Wonderland, "if you get killed can I have your iPod?"

Stephen smirked and rolled his eyes. And then Abby came in, and wow, she looked great. Connor still didn't like her like her, but he can appreciate a fine girl in a fine dress, after all, the main reason he helped Alice was because she was a 'pretty girl in a very wet dress'. She really did like Stephen if she was willing to do _that_ for him.

The revelation that Stephen was already dating someone was really quite shocking. And it was someone called _Alis_ on. Could that be Alice? And if so, would she recognise Connor? If she did, he was _so_ dead. Stephen did say rainforest, they have those in America, so the likelihood of it being Alice went up. He couldn't imagine what _Alice_ was doing in the _rainforest_ researching _infectious diseases_ , but that could be a cover for something Wonderland related.

"Just one thing before you go, Stephen," Connor said, the man looked to him, "what does she look like? How old is she? And does she like being called Alice?"

"That's three things Connor," Abby said. He shrugged and looked towards Stephen.

"Um, she's got dark brown hair, brown eyes, about this tall," the tracker said, indicating height on Connor, "she's 28, and she is normally called Alice. Why?"

Connor swallowed and tried to keep the pure terror off his face. He had a feeling it wasn't working, "um, don't let your girlfriend meet me."

Stephen narrowed his eyes, "why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Hypothetically, if I dated your girlfriend- for about three days- and, hypothetically, if I told her I couldn't continue to date her because, hypothetically, I had to stay at home and help to rebuild it, what would you say?" the hatted man replied.

" _Hypothetically_ , was this within the last 2 years?" the eldest asked.

"Yeah," Connor nodded.

"Then, I don't care. We had a deal that we could date whoever we wanted while she's away and, if we're both still single, we get back together when she's here," Stephen said.

Connor's shoulders sagged with relief. The three said goodbye and Stephen left. Connor reassured Abby that she did, in fact, look nice after the other man had left. Having visited Stephen a few times while he was in the hospital, Connor got a chance to know the man better and saw that he wasn't actually as much of a jerk as he first seemed.

 **[BREAKLINE]**

The team got called down to a swimming pool for another suspected Anomaly. The police thought that a woman murdered her boyfriend, and it seemed logical, but what happened to the body? It was obviously an Anomaly.

Connor sat with his calves dipped in the pool, Abby squatting behind him, whilst Stephen sat beside him getting ready to dive into the water.

"Do you know, with all this chlorine in the pool, I'm surprised a creature even came through. To a reptile it would be like swimming in a bucket of acid," he noted. Stephen agreed with him.

Abby stood and walked round to collect and test water samples.

"So, how's Alice?" Connor asked. He was kind of curious.

"Jet lagged," Stephen replied.

"You see, it's funny, 'cause you always gave the impression like you were single," he told the other man.

"That's funny, I didn't think I was giving an impression what so ever," the Mighty Hunter commented.

"You'd be surprised," he said dryly.

"Connor, I'm flattered, but-"

Connor cut Stephen off with, "I was actually talking about the fact you asked Abby out in the ambulance, you lying, two timing git," with that he stood and walked off. He was pretty sure he just ruined any sort of friendship (?) the pair had built, but that had felt _good_.

The water testing was done, so, Connor left the swimming pool to start working on his dissertation. Cutter had read his old alien theory through and had told him that it was "extremely well thought out and written" the only down side being "it is also completely ridiculous and will not be taken seriously outside of our team". Connor sat in a nearby pub, ponding his new topic, when he remembered his discussion- argument- he had with a teacher about evolution theories.

Professor Berke- _it's B-erk-é! Not berk!_ \- was quite honestly the poorest excuse for a evolutionary scientist there was. His theories were so close to Lamarck's that you could hardly notice a difference in the theories. Except one thing, Burke's had never been disproven. It was utter nonsense, but no one had been able to provide the evidence needed to _prove_ it was utter nonsense.

Connor, however, had completely _dismantled_ Burke's theory in 10 minutes halfway through the first class. The good Professor had gone through all colours of the rainbow, starting his normal yellow-orange, turning red then purple then blue and finally ending on green, looking as if he was going to be sick. That's what he'd do his dissertation on (not the strange colour spectrum of Professor Burke, no, but providing the evidence to contradict Burke's theory). With this decided, Connor started to write a rough draft of his paper on the pad he had with him.

He had gotten the first page written when his phone went off. The boyfriend's body had turned up at a reservoir. Another Anomaly, the _same_ Anomaly in a different location. Connor downed the rest of his drink and left the pub.

 **[BREAKLIN]**

Connor honestly couldn't believe that no one else had thought to measure water level, it was so _simple_ and just pure _logic_. He called Cutter over and told the professor about the Anomaly still being open, he looked suitably impressed and Connor found that quite funny because it was just so _simple._

But Stephen still got all the fun stuff while Connor and Abby got stuck collecting _water samples_. Fun. "I can do the action stuff as well, you know," Connor had told her, but she didn't believe him. He shrugged his jacket off and dropped it by some gear, don't want to get that ruined by frumious water. Again.

Connor walked with Abby to the entry point and tried to comfort her about Stephan. They waded into the reservoir and began collecting water.

As he collected a sample, Connor noticed swans flying away from something, then a ripple, and then some form of water predator. He asked Abby what it was, really hoping that it was just some Oyster World animal that he hadn't heard of. Then it rose out of the water. _'Definitely not from modern day Oyster World,'_ Connor thought, _'Oh, s_ _lurking urpal slackush scrum.'_ He was then tempted to run as he figured out it wasn't, because the Wondaland response is _run, just run._

But Abby told him not to, so he didn't. She is an animal behaviour specialist. But soon they had to run, so when Connor said to, they did. They were on shore. The beast followed. Connor acted on instinct, grab weapon (paddle) and hit. The creature came to bite at him and _Hatter_ stuck the oar into its mouth. The fish dove back into the water and ran off (well, swam off). _Hatter_ took a deep breath. _Connor_ thought about his database while he tried to identity what almost ate him. Mosasaur. Cretaceous. 6 or 7 metres.

Connor helped Abby up and asked if she was alright, he didn't want her to go into shock. He led her over to a medic to get checked out. Cutter came back to shore and asked,

"Did you see it? It swam right in front of me, looked like it was injured."

Connor told Cutter what happened and then told the professor his guess at what it was. It really was lucky for him not to have been met with a fully grown Mosasaur, the results would have been disastrous in many ways. First, Abby and/or him would have been injured/killed, second, a lot more people would have died, and third, he would have been revealed as Hatter and most likely thrown in a looney bin for 'thinking' he's from a 'child's story'.

Abby came up to Connor and hugged him, thanking him for saving her. He held on for too long, he was never good at hugs, always held on for too little as a child then too long as he got older. Awkward.

 **[BREAKLINE]**

With nothing better to do, Connor left the site and went back to the university to do some research. He took the bus back and went to the cafeteria. He set up his laptop and began his search, the Mosasaur. And then Duncan and Tom showed up while he was still researching. They were getting suspicious. That was bad because the block of flats he was renting from had just become a crime scene- yeah. It was in a bad part of town- and he was crashing at theirs for a while.

 _'Quick!'_ Connor thought, _'escape!'_ He made an awkward excuse about being late somewhere, before he got stopped about movie night. He said the pizza was on him, gave them the money, then tried to leave.

Duncan stopped him with, "what's with the clothes, Conn? Why the sudden revert back to your old fashion?"

He stopped and looked back at the pair, "I might be moving back home."

"What?" Tom asked, "when? Why? How? Who?"

"I just," Connor shrugged, "think I fit in better there. I enjoyed what I did there."

"Then why'd you leave in the first place?" Duncan asked.

Connor thought for a moment, "it was time for a change. A new experience. Now I've got that experience...I'm not sure I wasn't better off in Wo- home," he took a deep breath, "I'll let you guys know beforehand if I do decide to leave.".

He soon left the canteen for the library. He had all the information he needed on the mosasaur, now was the time to get some of his dissertation done.

 **[BREAKLINE]**

The team got called out to an Anomaly in some woman's basement, proving Cutter's theories on 'mythical fault-lines'. Here, Connor found out the revelation about Helen Cutter still being alive. And what's more, Connor's new boss was his old lead drummer. Wow. That's a lot for one day, let alone five minutes. Connor was worried about Celebrity Love Island, at least that's what he said, he was actually worried about the consequences of the Anomaly travels on her fragile Oyster mind.

And…wow, James was talking about bringing Helen back with force. Even though Cutter got to go by himself, Connor knew that James would organise some means of bringing Helen back…even if no one agreed. Yet another reason why Connor didn't tell them about him being from Wonderland.

Cutter was going through the Anomaly. That was a big risk. For everyone.

After the meeting with Lester, Connor felt relieved that his old friend didn't recognise him. Sure, Connor would love to be friends with him again, but he didn't need everyone thinking of him as the lead singer, rock god, sex idol from one of the most widely known bands ever.

"And, Connor, a word," Lester said, calling the nerd outside. ' _Crap'_ Connor winced, knowing he hadn't escaped.

"Sure thing," the computer genius followed the boss outside to privacy while the rest of the team left to do some…team-y things.

"I trust you not to tell anyone about our Sinner Saint days?" the boss suggested, "and, um, it's just Lester now, not James."

"Of course, I want them to know as little as you do. Don't worry, Lester, you're secret's safe with me," Connor told his boss. The hatted man left to join the rest of the team.

He walked back inside to and looked at all the maps and schematics and knew immediately that it was the drains. But he would have to wait for Stephan to come back out of the basement. Bless Abby, but she couldn't understand this stuff. Finally Stephan came out and Connor explained his drain theory to him. A small mosasaur. But not small enough.

He was also right about Jame- Lester's plan about forcing Helen to come and help them. He didn't like the sound of that. As Connor stood back, he saw Cutter get wheeled past on a gurney, he apparently nearly drowned. The whole team then got ushered outside to the ambulance while the SFs went through with their mission. After Cutter awoke, the Wondalander looked as a damp Helen Cutter was pulled passed and shoved into a car, like she was being arrested or some such. _'Oh bloody Borogroves,'_ Connor thought. This was going to be a very interesting few days.

And very tiring.

 **So, any thoughts? Ideas? Love it? Hate it? Let me know if you want. Drop me a review/PM. I now have an idea for a Jabberwock and the Wondaland gang.**

 _ **Translation: Slurking urpal slackush scrum**_ **– Bad word of the most foul meaning. Outlandish swear.**

 **Thanks for reading :)**

 **Shunters**


	7. Preview

**Connor's Secrets**

 **Disclaimer:** just writing for fun, making no money, I own neither Primeval nor Alice. Sadly.

 **Summary:** Connor is too strange to be from the same place as everyone else, I mean, his fashion, the conspiracies, really, who does he think he's fooling? But the thing is, he's actually fooling everyone. Connor was also in one of the most famous bands ever, but no one knew that either. And then the Anomalies came along. And everything went to hell.

 **Warnings:** Bad language. Again.

 **A/N: Okay, so this is a little preview for 2-4 chaps from now, just to see if you like were this is going.** **Shunters**

 **Preview**

The Ace Suit thrust the cattle prod onto Connor's bare chest. The man gritted his teeth through the pain. The team looked away from the scene. Abby was crying along with Jenny/Claudia, whilst Cutter barely restrained his anger. They soon heard words coming from the men.

"Why is a raven like a writing desk? The clockwork's not ticking properly. Maybe there's crumbs in the butter. Twinkle twinkle little bat, how I wonder where you're at. Above the world you fly, like a tea try in the sky," Connor muttered. His eyes and head were down cast and his breathing was deep, fast and laboured.

"He's mad," Suit no. Eight commented.

Connor throw his head back and started laughing darkly. When he stopped he looked at the Suit, "we're all mad here."

"Yes, but you're bonkers," Suit no. Three replied.

"Off my head. You know what they say; mad as a Hatter-" he said.

"-and twice as twisted," a mechanical gangster voice finished.

"Well, March-y, old boy, you've out done yourself this time," Connor muttered.

 **So, any thoughts? Ideas? Love it? Hate it? Let me know if you want. Drop me a review/PM. This is a preview for a future chap, it hasn't happened in the storyline yet, I just wanted your thoughts on this.**

 **Thanks for reading :)**

 **Shunters**


	8. False Alarms, Flats and Dangerous Skies

**Connor's Secrets**

 **Summary:** Connor is too strange to be from the same place as everyone else, I mean, his fashion, the conspiracies, really, who does he think he's fooling? But the thing is, he's actually fooling everyone. Connor was also in one of the most famous bands ever, but no one knew that either. And then the Anomalies came along. And everything went to hell.

 **Warnings:** Bad language, probably. Gore. Um, angst. Yeah, think that's it.

 **A/N: I am so so so so soooooo sorry this has taken so long. I feel really bad for keeping you guys waiting! I know you're not interesting in why, but I'll tell you anyway: revision for GCSE mocks suck, and revision for actual GCSEs suck even more.**

 **In case you're wondering when that** Preview **will come into play, well I think that will be in 2ish more chapters, so after the whole weird Claudia Brown thing.** Also, I need you to please vote on pairings: **see the end of the chapter.**

 **Ok, so, now I'm replying to those reviews I've gotten. I kept meaning to, but just never got around to it:**

 **Meggysmeg –** I know, it's sweet when they do that

 **SkySorrow –** Thank you. Ok, that's good to know. I'll try and add more of the show's dialogue :)

 **Guest 1 –** thank you ;)

 **AmeliaPond1997 –** No, this is not complete, I just haven't updated in a while as I've been too busy with life and GCSEs. Thank you for reviewing and saying you've enjoyed the story

 **Deathnoteno1fan-codegeasslover –** Ok, thanks for the idea, I'll see if I can work that into my plot. Thank you for the 2nd review & yeah, I thought that in Wonderland their creatures are pretty similar to dinos, so Connor couldn't be sure that Aboveland didn't have any creatures like that

 **I am me 27 –** Thank you for saying you like the story & I'm really sorry I don't update this story that often, but, I've been so busy. After 21st June, I'll be able to update more as I won't have school then

 **Meggysmeg –** thanks for the review, Hun, and I'm glad you're loving this ;)

 **Guest 2 –** thank you for reviewing, glad you're enjoying

 **.bae –** I'm pleased you're enjoying the story, and thank you for reviewing

 **Escaped Ninja –** hehe, thank you for the review and for liking the story so much. I'll be able to update more often aft the 21st June as I won't have school after then. Sorry it took so long to update, but, I'll try to do so more often

 **LilithKawanami –** I am still working on this, I've just been so busy. Here is an update, I hope you will enjoy. It means a lot to me to know people like my writing; thank you for reviewing

 **Guest 3 –** thank you for the review, and I'm happy you are enjoying the story

 **Ok, that's every review I've gotten since I started. There are** 2 episodes **in this chapter, so it should be twice as long as the rest, as a special treat since I took so long to update. On with the fic now, Shunters**

 **Chapter 5 – False Alarms, Flats & Dangerous Skies**

The team were called to a block of flats in the city centre for an Anomaly alert. As the team made their way up to the flat that called it in, Stephen kicked a football, hitting the sign which read 'no ball games'.

"Fluke," Connor stated.

"Jealous," Stephen replied. So, they were back to this strange joking around thing they'd had going on in the hospital. Connor thought that the Oysters referred to it as 'banter'.

As it turns out, the call was only a python.

And…Stephen was scared of snakes. _Stephen_ was _scared_ of _snakes!_ How ridiculous was that? He was supposed to be the guy who wrestled an anaconda! Connor had rolled his eyes, put his laptop to the side and took the snake from Stephen. He put her (yes, the snake was a girl) around his neck, holding and petting her reassuringly. At the looks he got from the other two, he explained, "I had a lot of pet snakes as a kid," which wasn't strictly a lie. He'd had the Wonderland version of snakes as a pet.

When he got back to the Home Office, Connor went to Jam- Lester's office to speak with him. He knocked and walked in.

"Connor, what's up?" Lester asked as he leant back in his office chair.

The Wonderlander smiled and walked forward, sitting opposite his boss, "well, James, I'm having a bit of trouble with me flat at the moment."

Lester narrowed his eyes, "and…?" he asked, suspicious.

"And, I was wondering if I could stay with you for a bit," Connor replied.

"Now, Connor, as much-"

"Just hear me out," he interrupted, at Lester's nod, he continued, "you can let me stay with you, _or_ , you can let Tom and Duncan continue to investigate what I'm up to when I leave theirs, and everyone can find out about your days in the band."

"You wouldn't," Lester stated, eyes narrow.

Connor raised an eyebrow, and gave him a look, as if to say 'try me'.

Lester sighed, "fine. You can stay with me for a bit."

The Outlander looked pleased with himself, "thanks."

Lester gave him a spare key so he could get into the flat without having to wait for his old friend and told him, "oh, and Connor, if you leave any of your clothing items _anywhere_ that isn't your room- that included the bread oven- then I will shred all your clothes and replace them all with your Gaz outfits, making sure you can't go anywhere without a gaggle of fans chasing you down."

"Fair enough," Connor replied. Nothing was scarier than a bunch of crazed fangirls (& boys). Nothing, "oh, I should probably tell you; I have a dog."

Lester looked at him, "you have a dog…" he said slowly.

"Yup. His name's Bear, he's a Belgian Malinois, and a fully tried, ex-military dog; I adopted him," Connor told his boss.

"Why did you adopt an ex-military dog?"

"Well, my friend works at an animal shelter, and she told me about this ex-military dog, who's owner died and was going to be put down at the end of the week if no one adopted him. Nobody wanted him because he only responds to Dutch commands, so I went to have a look at him, and ended up adopting him."

"You know Dutch?"

"Yes."

"Ok," Lester nodded slowly, "as long as he's trained, and won't start humping my things, or peeing everywhere, it's fine."

"Great, thanks, Lester."

He went back to Tom and Duncan's place to collect his things. His friends gave him a ride over so that he wouldn't have to take a cab. They offered to let him stay with them for longer, but he just said that he had a better offer; only having a roommate when Lester actually used his flat and wasn't at his house with the wife and kids.

The raven haired man hoped out of the van with his luggage and walked up to his new flat. He found his room, putting his bags on his bed. He sat down by them and immediately detached his new Roswell keyring from his backpack. He grabbed a screwdriver from inside one of his bags and started to dissect the alien head.

It was just what he thought. A tracker. He signed in frustration and threw the keyring onto his bedside table. He would deal with that later.

His phone went off. Connor pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the text that had just come through:

'WORK:

Helen's talking. Get over to the Home Office, now.

Stephen'

Connor sighed before pocketing his phone. He set up the dog bed and put down a bowl of water and some toys, telling Bear to stay and guard the house, before leaving. It was going to be a long day, he could tell. He walked down the street and looked at the bus timetable. The next one would be arriving any minute. When the bus pulled up, he climbed on and sat down, waiting for his stop. At his stop, he left the bus and started the walk to get to the Home Office. When he arrived, it was just in time to hear about the sabretooth cats which will apparently be making an appearance.

The team left with Helen and the soldier-boys. They arrived at a football stadium. Helen led them to some form of kitchens at the back of the building and most of the SFs scouted the place while two of them followed the woman with Cutter and Claudia close behind; Stephen, Abby and Connor bringing up the rear.

"In there?" Claudia asked as Helen stopped in front of a walk-in refrigerator.

"Yeah, in there," the woman agreed.

"Connor," Claudia said.

Connor walked forward with his compass and held it up outside the metal doors. He got no response from the device, "there's no trace of a magnetic field; it could be because the doors are too thick for it to penetrate the metal."

"Good boy," Helen replied, "I like this one, Nick; he can think for himself."

"Watch her," Claudia ordered Ryan as she walked over to where Connor stood.

"Hey!" Helen shouted. Claudia sighed and turned back around, "what if the cats have already come through? They could be right behind that door."

"You know what? She's really starting to get on my nerves," the Home Office woman replied.

"I can understand that," Cutter said with a smirk. Stephen smiled as well.

Claudia ordered Stephen to open the door. He walked over to find it was locked. Connor was just about to offer his lock picking set, when Cutter's wife strutted over and handed Stephen a knife. They smirked at each other. Something was defiantly going on between those two. He jimmied open the lock, passed the knife back and opened the doors, Connor standing next to him and watching. Two SFs stood at the ready just between them and the others. Stephen and Ryan opened the doors. The magnetic field pulled all sorts of metal utensils from behind them.

"Get down!" Stephen shouted and everyone ducked.

That really made Connor think; where would all that stuff go? Once it was through the Anomaly, on the other side, wouldn't it just get pulled back through to the original side again? And from there pulled back through? And that would just continue in an endless cycle, but, logically, that metal had to end up somewhere. Was there some sort of place all the metal junk that got pulled through ended up?

"This is where you duck," Stephen's voice said in his ear, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Ok," he nodded and ducked.

Once the metal assault stopped, Connor went to take readings of the Anomaly and found a bunch of pies in the fridge.

"Meat pie…?" he turned around and looked at the others. Helen and his eyes connected. They both thought it at the same time.

"We've got to rid of them," the woman said.

"The meat'll act like bait," Connor agreed as Helen lunged forward to help.

The two SFs held her back and she turned to Ryan, "unless you want your men to be breakfast, I suggest you do something!"

Ryan agreed and the team worked on getting the food out. Just as Cutter stepped out of the fridge, Helen ran for it, through the Anomaly. Of course. Ryan went in after her, followed by Stephen. After a few minutes, the pair came back and told the team they had lost Helen, but had taken some pictures of the other side.

Remembering the danger of any creatures that came through, Connor said, "hey, here's an idea; why don't we shut and lock the doors again?" the others looked at him, "I mean, that way nothing can get through. Then, all we need to do is get someone to check on it every couple of hours so we know when it closes."

"That's actually a good idea, Connor," Stephen replied.

"No need to sound so surprised there, Stephen," Connor told him.

Stephen smirked. He then got out his phone and pulled the pictures up on Connor's laptop, while Cutter told Ryan to close and lock the metal doors. The photos were amazing. An emerald green field sat beside a forest. Scattered across the field were Anomalies. Almost a hundred Anomalies.

"Incredible," Cutter breathed.

"The spaghetti junction of Anomalies," Connor said.

"There was no way I could have followed her; would have been like running into a hall of mirrors," Stephen told them.

They discovered there were no sabretooth cats through that Anomaly and Cutter and Claudia had a little dispute over him trying to follow Helen. Yeah, those two had something going on between them.

"Cutter?" Connor asked.

"Yes," he replied.

"I was wondering, you know the magnetic field?" Cutter nodded, "well, what d'you think happens to the metal items which get pulled through? 'Cause they couldn't stay on the other side without getting pulled back through to this one, so d'you think that there could be some sort of- I don't know- other dimension, or time, or world, or something which they get pulled to?"

Cutter stared for a moment, "that's a really good point Connor," he stated and Connor smiled, "I want you to start taking different readings at the Anomaly sites and record them so we can figure this out."

Connor nodded, "ok, sure."

Cutter walked away. Too late did Connor remember the mystery dumb site in Wonderland, where random things ended up. The only thing they had in common; they were made of metal. ' _Oh, shukm'_ he thought. He had just set his professor on the track of Wonderland. Connor packed up his things and left for Lester's flat.

* * *

Once at the flat, Connor told Bear to stop guarding the place and took the dog for a walk. When they got back, Bear went to lay down, while Connor pulled out his notepad and laptop, before starting on his dissertation. He had finished his plan and a rough draft of the first page already, now he was starting on the rest. When Lester got in, Connor put his dissertation to the side and asked, "wanna play some WoW with me?"

Lester looked at him, as if to say _'I am a Home Office official and your boss. And you want me to lower myself to your level?'._ Connor just raised an eyebrow.

* * *

 **2 hours later**

"No, no, no, nononono," Lester said, "damn it!"

"Oooo," Connor replied, "tough luck, mate."

Lester frowned, "it's always that part."

"I know, it is hard," Connor agreed.

"Always when I've got the flag, as well," Lester told him, "I always make it out of Horde territory, and I'm so close to the Alliance base, and then that bastard comes out of nowhere and kills me!"

"Yeah, he's level 49 as well, while we're only 45," the younger man said, "he's probably one of those idiots who gets kicks out of killing all the lower level players in Battlegrounds."

"Yeah," Lester nodded, "come on, we've only got two minutes left of this one."

The pair started playing World of Warcraft with renewed vigour; Alliance only needed one more flag to win the Battleground. As the game ended, Connor's character attacked the one fighting Lester's, allowing the man to run the last stretch and get the flag into its place.

"Yes!" the pair cheered.

* * *

The next month was full of the same routine for Connor: get up, go to university, come home, walk Bear, work on his dissertation, play some form of computer game with Lester, go to bed, repeat. That was, until one Saturday when Connor was playing Oblivion and Lester was filling out reports.

Lester's phone went off. He sighed and answered, "Lester…right, ok…well, what are you waiting for, call the team in and have them look for today's mystery guest…good," with that he hung up.

"Work?" Connor asked.

"Yup," Lester sighed, "Claudia will text you the address."

"Ok," the man stood, "see you in a bit. Wezen goede, Bear, luisteren naar Lester" he left the flat. He had given Lester a basic commands book so that Bear would listen to his boss, if he wasn't home.

Connor made his way to the bus shelter. He had left his car at Abby's from when he visited her the other day. The next bus would be there in two minutes. He sat down on the bench and a text chimed through on his phone:

'WORK

Possible Anomaly at the Forest Heights Country Club hotel. Get here as soon as you can & tell Abby; we can't get a hold of her.

Claudia'

Connor put his phone away as the bus pulled up. He got on and sat down.

* * *

As the bus pulled up, Connor stood. He got off the bus and walked to Abby's flat. He pressed the intercom and said, "Abby, it's me, could ya let me in please?"

The door opened and the blonde stood there in her underwear, as usual, "come in."

"Thanks," he followed her inside and upstairs, "Claudia's been trying to get a hold of you; there's another possible Anomaly."

"Oh, my mobile died, and they don't have my home number," Abby replied, "let me just go and get dressed."

"Ok."

Abby ran upstairs to get ready, while Connor looked around at the snakes and reptiles. A few minutes later, the woman returned downstairs, and the pair left. Connor got into his car, while Abby got into hers. The blonde went a head of the brunette as he was checking his phone and putting the address into the sat nav. Behind him, Rex landed in the car, without him noticing.

* * *

As he pulled up to the entrance of the golf course, two SFs stopped him. He showed them the ID which allowed him to access all areas. They let him through and he pulled up in the car park. He got out of the car and took off his fire jacket, leaving him in just a white button-up, a waistcoat and black combat trousers. As well as his signature gloves and hat, of course. As he put his jacket in the car, he looked up.

"Oh my God!" he shouted; there, on his car, was Rex, "sorry, sorry," he said as the lizard flinched, "I didn't mean to shout," he started to ramble. He moved round the car, talking to Rex as he tried to grab to the creature.

"Rex, please, mate," he was actually reduced to pleading with a lizard. He took off just as Connor lunged forward, "Rex! Rex!"

Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn. He really wished he had his Wonderland tracking gear and traps; it really would make his life so much easier. He ran after the lizard. He sprinted all through the forest and out onto the golf course.

"I gotta be honest with you, mate, you're making me life quite difficult," he told the lizard as he put his hands on his knees. That was the most running he'd done since he came to Oyster World. He should really take up running at the university.

"Connor!" the shouts of Abby, Stephen and Cutter came from behind him.

He cringed. But, wait. They didn't sound angry. They sounded worried. And Rex was staring behind him. Oh, God, this was not good. He turned slowly.

"Shukm," he cursed as he saw the beast approaching him. Wait, that was a pteranodon: they only ate fish and…small reptiles. He looked to Rex. Of course, "shukm," he cursed again before he turned and ran as fast as he could. Which was quite fast.

He felt laughter bubble up in the back of his throat. This was the most alive he had felt since he left Wonderland. He heard a gunshot ring out behind him, but the beast didn't go down; Cutter most likely intervened. Good. He didn't want the beautiful creature to be killed; it wasn't even trying to hurt him. Though, they probably didn't know that. Connor looked around. He could make for the trees, or he could make for the bunker ahead of him. The trees would be best for him, but, he had to get Rex away from the beast.

The man kept running with the lizard next to him. He jumped as they reached to hill before the sand bunker. He landed on the ground and flopped onto his back, laughing. He had to do that more often. He stood and made his way back to the group, still chuckling quietly to himself.

"That was a bit of a laugh, wannit?" he said as he reached the group.

"Silly arse," Cutter said and walked away.

"What?" Connor asked. Abby glared and walked away, "what?" he asked Stephen.

"She's just upset that you let Rex escape," Stephen told him.

"Me?" Connor asked, "how did _I_ let Rex escape?" the other man raised an eyebrow, "I don't live there, I didn't open any of the windows; it's not me fault."

Stephen shrugged, "I don't know, just kiss up to her a bit. I need your laptop, mate, so we can brief the SFs."

"Ok," Connor sighed and pulled out his car keys, "it's in the boot."

"Thanks," Stephen left with Cutter and the SFs, while Abby and Connor went to find Rex.

"Rex!" Abby called.

"Rexy, come on, mate!" Connor called. He looked at the ground, trying to look for any tracks to tell him where the Coelurosauravus might be hiding.

Ten minutes later, the pair were in the middle of the woods. The man had managed to find some tracks, but they disappeared in the middle. Connor guessed that the lizard had taken off into flight then.

"Rex!" Connor called.

He heard a small chirping sound and looked in that direction, catching sight of the lizard, "Rex! Abby!" Connor took off after the lizard, Abby follow behind. They caught up to the lizard, who was sitting on a log, "Rex."

The pair grinned. Then, the lizard started to cower and jumped to hide behind the log. A squawk came from behind them. Abby and Connor slowly turned. A swarm of pterosaurs were sat in the tree. The dinosaurs took off.

Connor grabbed Abby and called, "noge," without thinking. The pair ducked. Luckily, the Outlandish word sounded more like panicked noise than anything else. The swarm flew over them, "Abby, are we alive?" Connor asked.

"We're alive," she replied.

When Connor said he wanted to do that more often, he didn't exactly mean 'get almost eaten by a group of Anurognathus'. Rex came around the log to look up at them and chirp at them.

"What now?" Abby asked.

"We should get Rex to the car, and warn the others about the pterosaurs," Connor told her.

"Ok," the pair stood.

Abby wrapped Rex up in her hoodie and the pair started to make their way back to the hotel. Once out of the forest, they could see the swarm of bat-like creatures flying all around the hotel, trying to find a way in.

"Oh, man," Connor mattered. The pair had heard, earlier, that Claudia was back in the hotel with a head injury, along with Cutter to watch her.

They changed course and headed to the secondary carpark, where Connor parked. Abby put Rex in and Connor left the windows open a crack. They then made their way back to the golf course to tell Stephen and the SFs about their discovery. As they got there, Ryan was leading a group of soldier-boys away. Connor and Abby walked over to Stephen.

"I take it you heard about the group of Anurognathus?" Connor asked.

"I heard about the pterosaurs, but not what subspecies they were," Stephen replied, "how'd you guys find out?"

"They attacked us in the woods," Abby said.

"And, just because half my brain's panicking, doesn't mean the other half isn't doing something useful," Connor replied.

Stephen raised an eyebrow. The Outlander walked over to the unconscious pteranodon and started to analysis it. He crouched down to get a better look and ran his finger along the reptile's teeth.

"If your finger gets bitten off, don't blame me," Stephen told him.

Connor chuckled. Then he replied, "just wanted to see if it really was impossible for him to have killed the golfer, not just that he didn't have the appetite for human."

"He what's your conclusion?" Stephen asked as he crouched opposite Connor.

"The teeth are all wrong," the younger (though, technically older) man replied, "and the shape of the beak, too; the point's nowhere near sharp enough to do anything like that. If this guy was gonna eat a human, it would be a lot more messily done than the pterosaurs."

Stephen nodded, impressed, "exactly what I thought."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the SFs arrived with Cutter and Claudia. Connor was standing under the Anomaly, with the compass. The magnetic field was getting weaker.

"Guys," he called, "we better be quick; I don't think the Anomaly's gonna hold much longer."

Claudia's phone rang, but she didn't answer it, saying it 'died'. As it turns out, she didn't tell Lester about what they were doing. Stephen walked up and passed the pole with his red top attached to Cutter. He looked at Connor and nodded his head in the direction of the pteranodon. Connor followed him back over, while Cutter walked towards the Anomaly and Claudia slowly followed Connor.

Stephen quickly went over to give Cutter a little pep talk before heading back over to the main group. Connor up tied part of the tarp which lay over that dinosaur, while Stephen went around to the other side and Ryan got the end.

"Ready, Soldier-Boy?" Stephen asked the head SF. Connor had accidentally called Ryan that one day, and it had somehow stuck with the team. Ryan nodded.

Cutter shouted for them to 'let it go'. Connor and Stephen grabbed the tarp and pulled it back of the beast. The dinosaur sluggishly got up, shaking its head. It spread its wings and flew off, turning and going the wrong direction.

"Over here!" everyone started to shout, waving their arms, trying to get its attention.

It slowly turned back and headed for Cutter. The group ducked as it flew over them and Connor grabbed hold off his hat to keep it on. It glided past the professor and into the shining orb. A few minutes later, the Anomaly became unstable and closed. Stephen grabbed Connor's hat and threw it in the air, while the group laughed and cheered.

 **The End! ;)**

 **Joking. That's not the end but it will be a while until I post again probably because I've got GCSEs now so I will basically be working flat out between now and 21** **st** **June. But then I have 2 weeks of sun, sea and sand to relax and write, so yay! The word** 'shukm' **is Outlandish for 'shit'.** 'noge' **means 'down' or 'to duck'.** 'Wezen goede, Bear, luisteren naar Lester' **means 'be good, Bear, listen to Lester' according to Google. Connor will be showing more Hatter-ish tendencies in the future, especially when in dangerous situations, which really matter.**

 **Anyway, please vote:**

 **Connor(Hatter)/Stephen**

 **Connor(Hatter)/Jack**

 **Connor(Hatter)/Becker (when I bring him in)**

 **Other (specify)**

 **P.S. probably won't do Abby/Connor or Alice/Hatter because he's already stated that he doesn't** _ **like**_ **like them. This will be mainly hinted at and won't be the main focus; I'd like to do a chapter for the character he will be with because I want to show how the team's- and his future partner's- view of him has changed. It will be a chapter for one character, most likely, and it will touch over the points in episodes which surprised them/changed their view of Connor.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Shunters**


	9. Helen is the Harbinger of Doom

**Connor's Secrets**

 **Summary:** Connor is too strange to be from the same place as everyone else, I mean, his fashion, the conspiracies, really, who does he think he's fooling? But the thing is, he's actually fooling everyone. Connor was also in one of the most famous bands ever, but no one knew that either. And then the Anomalies came along. And everything went to hell.

 **Warnings:** Bad language, probably. Gore. Um, angst. Yeah, think that's it.

 **A/N: ok, sorry for taking so long again, but I was surprisingly busy. So, here's the next update. I should have another one posted tomorrow or the following day, but it might be a week or so before the next update after that.**

 **Also, I forgot to mention, that I borrowed Connor's dog, Bear, from the TV show 'Person of Interest'.**

 **To the new reviewers:**

 **LilithKawanami –** thank you for reviewing :) it means a lot to me. I'm really glad you are enjoying this, and am pleased that you understand how busy school can make you. Thanks for the good luck :D and I hope you enjoy this update

 **AmeliaPond1997 –** thank you for reviewing, I'm glad you're enjoying this fic :) hope you like this update as much as the last. Your vote for Connor(Hatter)/Becker has been noted, and thank you for voting

 **Please can you do the vote at the end of the chapter. Thank you!**

 **Helen Is The Harbinger Of Doom**

The team was called out to the original Anomaly site, in the Forest of Dean. There was another Anomaly, this one with an escaped creature. As Connor took readings from the Anomaly, he couldn't find any distinct footprints anywhere. The only proof of a trail would be the more-frequent-than-normal broken sticks around, but that could be from anything. This was an…extremely deadly creature. Highly evolved. Silent. Untrackable. Intelligent. Not good.

After not finding anything at the Anomaly site, Connor went back to Abby's flat. On the way, however, she got a call from work about one of the lions. Since they were sharing a car, he had to tag along with her. Not that he minded, of course, he loved animals and loved tracking them.

The pair made their way from the car park towards the lion enclosure.

"See, at first we thought the lions had been fighting, but none of them were wounded," the blonde explained, "then we realised we lost one."

"You probably put it down somewhere, and forgot were you put it; happens all the time," Connor joked. He looked around the cage and spotted a bit of blood. He tapped Abby and pointed down at it, "looks like something got wounded," he told her as he crouched, pulling out a swab and a vial to collect a sample with.

"Could it have been a creature attack?" Abby asked.

"I don't know," he replied, gears working at 100mph in his head, trying to figure it out. He pocketed the swab, "could have been, but there's no other proof is there? All you've got is a missing lion. Maybe he just ran away to join the circus."

"Oh whatever," she shoved him.

As Abby needed to work, Connor left the zoo to walk Bear. The man spent the rest of his day playing on his X-Box and WoW on his laptop. The following day, the team was called into the Home Office to discuss theories on the newest creature from the Anomaly and the correlation of missing people.

"Stephen was acting really strange this morning," Abby was telling him, "something weird is going on."

"What's new?" Connor replied, "oh, I never said, the blood analyses came back from the lab. Most of it was from a lion, but some of it was from a bat."

"Bats get everywhere," the blonde retorted.

"Yeah, but it had really weird DNA," he explained, "they said they'd never seen anything like it before."

"What does that mean then?"

"I don't know. Yet," he was just hoping it wasn't a creature from Wonderland. He was about to continue, when Abby pulled out her phone, "you expecting a call?"

"My boss," she explained, a worried frown on her face, "no one's seen him since yesterday. They found his stuff, but there's no sign of him…he just vanished," she paused, "I've got to get back to the zoo."

While she left and the others had a meeting, Connor made his way to back to the flat and started to finish his dissertation. He was almost done, just the conclusion left to go. Three hours later, he was finished and grinning from ear to ear. He quickly gathered all his stuff and drove down to the university, with Bear in the back; he was planning on walking the dog after telling Cutter he finished his dissertation. He went into Cutter's office, only to find Stephen there and no Cutter.

"Oh, hey, Stephen," he greeted as he walked in, "do you know where Cutter is?"

"He's at his house…with Helen," Stephen replied.

"What?" the Wonderlander asked, "why's she staying there?" Lester had told him earlier that Helen had made an appearance to Stephen and that they were going to have a meeting with her.

"She's got nowhere else to stay," the other man replied, flicking through a textbook, trying to plan out the next lecture.

Connor walked over to Cutter's desk and flopped into the chair, "how'd the meeting with her go, anyway?"

As Stephen started to explain what happened, Connor pulled out his dissertation and placed it on the desk in front of him.

Once the older man was done with his explanation, Connor asked, "what, and that's all she said?"

"That's it," Stephen said offhandedly, continuing to flick through another book.

"What, nothing else? No details at all?" he asked, playing with the jaw of a sabretooth.

"Nope," Stephen turned to look at him, "why? Put it down."

Connor leant forwards, putting the fossil down, "it's just, I found some bat blood at the zoo, the other day."

"So?"

"Well, this bat blood had really, really screwed up DNA. I mean, you know, it's probably nothing, but one of the lions went missing, and now Abby's boss has just disappeared as well," that got Stephen's attention.

"Where's Abby?" the man asked.

It dawned on Connor, "she said she was working late. Ohhh, no."

Stephen grabbed his keys and jacket, "meet me at the zoo," he moved towards the door, "with as much backup as possible."

"Shukm," Connor stood and quickly grabbed his phone.

He rung Ryan and called for backup at the zoo. After that, he called Stephen and told him that Ryan was on his way. The Wonderlander left the university and drove down to the zoo. He was standing outside when he heard about the need for dogs.

"Hung on," he told Cutter, "I'll just grab Bear from my car," before anyone could stop him, he had jogged to his car. He opened the boot and grabbed Bear's lead. The dog didn't need to be on the lead normally, but he might do for this, "af," his dog obeyed and jumped out of the car, "hak zatten aan, Bear."

He closed the boot, locked the car and made his way over to the others. The dog heeled and followed him over. The others stared at his vicious-looking pet, which was still off the lead.

"Zitten," Connor told Bear and crouched down once the dog sat. He attached the lead and stroked the Malinois, "goede jongen, Bear."

As he stood, he realised the others were staring at him, "what? You know, I don't just sit at home thinking about dinosaurs, I do other stuff."

Cutter shook his head, shrugged and started walking away.

"Luisteren en waakzaamheid, Bear," Connor told his dog, before following.

As the line of SFs and the main team- along with four dogs- made their way across the field, towards the forest by the zoo, Cutter said, "the creature's lair must be somewhere very close."

"What happens when we find this thing?" he overheard Ryan ask.

"We kill it," Cutter stated, grimly.

Well, that made a change. Along the way, Stephen turned to Connor and asked, "since when do you know Dutch?"

"Since before I went to university," Connor told him.

"Know any other languages?" he asked.

"I'm only fluent in Dutch, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian, Czech, and I know a bit of Scottish and Welsh," he replied offhandedly, keeping a look out for any creatures.

After a pause, Stephen replied, "oh, you're only fluent in 6 different languages."

"You're not?" Connor asked, honestly a bit surprised.

The other man raised an eyebrow at him. Soon, they had reached the middle of the forest. The group walked down the slope, Stephen looking for tracks and the rest keeping an eye and ear out. The dogs started to bark as Stephen knelt to look at what could have been a track. Bear was barking as well, Connor realised, which never happened unless there was a threat. The Wonderlander looked to where his dog was looking. One of the SFs was pulled away with a yell and a strange growling sound. It was here.

Everyone was aiming guns and firing in that direction. The wrong direction.

"There's nothing!" Ryan shouted, frustrated.

Connor looked to the side as he heard something and Bear pulled slightly in that direction. Twigs were snapping all around them, and soldiers were shooting everywhere.

"Make sure you verify your target!" Ryan ordered.

Twigs were snapping in the trees and Bear was looking up at them.

"Look up!" Cutter shouted.

Everyone did that, while grouping closely together. They caught a glimpse of it as it jumped through the trees. It lunged for Cutter and the man ducked as Bear snapped and snarled at the creature. Stephen shot after the beast as it ran away.

"What the hell was that?" Stephen asked no one in particular.

"We need a bigger gun," Cutter stated.

Bear nudged his hand and sat, signifying that the creature really was gone. Connor stroked the dog's head.

After a few minutes, everyone was grouped around, trying to think on what happened. Helen was casually leaning against a tree, eating an apple, as if she faced one of those things every day. Connor pulled a chew out of his pocket and gave it to his dog as a reward. He then started to replay what just happened, in his head, frame-by-frame. He was trying to pin down something which could help them.

"It was one step ahead of us, all the time," Cutter was saying as he paced, "knew what we were gonna do, before we even did it."

"Warned you it was smart," Helen told him.

"It would be more helpful if you could tell us how to catch it," the professor retorted.

"What we need is something that gives us an edge," Stephen interrupted their bickering, "some weakness in its defences, otherwise…it's just gonna pick us off one by one."

"Dogs," Connor told them, "the dogs went crazy before the attack. Something made them go off like that. It can't been smell; Bear would have followed the scent trail if it were. Sound."

"Hearing. They heard something," Cutter agreed.

"It's using sound," Connor nodded.

"That's why it manages to stay ahead of us; it can detect physical movement before it's within visual range."

"And the dogs detect a higher frequency, therefore, they know when it's nearby."

"Like echo location?" Ryan asked.

"High frequency soundwaves, like a sonar system," Cutter continued to explain, "some animals use it to detect prey."

"Like a bat," Stephen agreed, "you said there was bat blood in the lion enclosure," he said to Connor.

"That's it. This thing must be some kind of, I don't know, futuristic super bat," Connor replied.

"He's right," Helen told them, "three quarters of all mammal species are bats or rats, maybe the future belongs to them."

"We can use its own weapon against it," Cutter said.

"The oscilloscope," Connor nodded.

"It's in the car, go get it," the professor knew that he had taken up running at the university, and was actually very fast.

The Wonderlander started to run, Bear following off the lead after him. As he reached the end of the forest, Connor realised that his dog was following him and told his pet to stay and keep watch. The man continued to the car and quickly got inside, looking for the sound device. He turned it on to check it worked and was just about to get the battery and leave, when Bear started to bark and the oscilloscope went off. He looked around outside and couldn't see anything.

"Kalmeren en blijven," he shouted out of the window, to Bear.

Connor shut the door. There was a sound on the roof and the car shook slightly. The Wonderlander swallowed. He looked behind him. The front windscreen smashed and the creature lunged through. Connor opened the door and fell out of the car. The creature moved to attack him. Bear jumped and collided with the beast. There was growling and snarling as the dog bit into the creature's neck. The predator was pushed into the side of the car and a fight broke out.

"Bear!" Connor shouted as his dog was thrown away from him.

The now bleeding creature advanced on Connor.

 **Ok, that's it for this chapter. Yes, I ended it on a cliff hanger; I'm evil like that. Anyway, please vote:**

 **Connor(Hatter)/Stephen 0**

 **Connor(Hatter)/Jack (of Hearts) 0**

 **Connor(Hatter)/Becker 1**

 **Other (specify) 0**

 **Translations:**

 **Af = down, off, out. Hak zatten aan = heel. Zitten = sit. Goede jongen = good boy. Luisteren = listen. En = and.** **Waakzaamheid** **= watchfulness, watch, vigilance. Kalmeren = quiet, calm. Blijven = stay**


	10. Remember to Count Your Bats

**Connor's Secrets**

 **Summary:** Connor is too strange to be from the same place as everyone else, I mean, his fashion, the conspiracies, really, who does he think he's fooling? But the thing is, he's actually fooling everyone. Connor was also in one of the most famous bands ever, but no one knew that either. And then the Anomalies came along. And everything went to hell.

 **Warnings:** Bad language, probably. Gore. Um, angst. Yeah, think that's it. Spoilers for all of Season 1

 **PLEASE READ A/N: Well, my laptop crashed and then I had no internet, so I couldn't post :( I know, there's been a lot of delays for the updates. Also, I've reposted the last chapter due to the fact that it was the unedited version. I'm so sorry, but I seem to have lost the plot (quite literally; the paper with my plan written on has vanished) and so, I'm now struggling from a case of writer's block (the horror!). Due to this, I've decided to end this fic here & will pick up where I left off with a sequel as soon as my writer's block has cleared. In the meantime, please can you vote on pairings. Thank you!**

 **Remember to Count Your Creepy Future-Bats**

"Stephen, go see what's taking Connor so long," Cutter told his friend.

"Ok," the man agreed and started to jog in the direction that Connor went in.

As Stephen got closer to the car park, he could hear growling and he started to run. He heard a shout of 'Bear' and started to sprint. He came out of the treeline at the same time as a yell of pain sounded. The man saw the creature, standing on top of Connor, biting into his shoulder. The beast was covered in blood and Bear lay, whimpering to the side. Stephen took his stance and pulled the trigger, shooting the predator. It pulled its head away from Connor, looking up at Stephen before fleeing.

The man ran over to his friend, who was now trying to sit up. The older man knelt beside the younger, "lie still."

Connor moved a hand up to his shoulder and put pressure on the wound, "Bear, is he alright?" he asked.

Stephen looked towards the prone figure of the dog, covered in blood, and replied, "I don't know, I'll go check, okay? Just stay still."

Connor nodded as the man stood. He walked over to Bear and knelt by the dog. The animal was still breathing, but there was a large bite on his back. Stephen shushed the dog and stroked him, before standing and pulling out his phone.

" _Stephen?"_ Cutter asked.

"Cutter," he began, "I found Connor."

" _What? Is he-"_

"He's alive. But, he's hurt and so is Bear," Stephen knelt back beside Connor.

" _How badly?"_

"Connor's got a bite on the shoulder, and some shallow scratch marks on his side, he's still conscious" the man explained, "Bear's got a bite on his back, but is still breathing."

" _Right,"_ Cutter replied, _"Ok, I'll get Ryan to radio the medic over to your location. Are you by the car?"_

"Yeah, still by the car," just as he said that, he heard Abby's voice.

"Stephen?" she asked.

"I've got to go Cutter. I'll call you later."

" _Bye."_

"Abby, I need your help," Stephen said as he put his phone away.

"Oh my God," Abby covered her mouth with her hand as she took in what was going on.

"Abby, I need you to get some vets from the zoo to look after Bear for me," he told her.

The blonde swallowed, "will he-?"

"He'll be fine, just help Bear," Stephen interrupted as he took Connor's scarf off the man, and cut it in half with a knife, "sorry, Connor, you're gonna need a new scarf," said man gave a breathy chuckle, cut off with a hiss of pain.

"Okay," Abby nodded and walked over to the dog, to assess how badly hurt he was. After a minute, she ran off, muttering something about a stretcher.

"Thanks," Connor said, looking up at Stephen.

"For what?" the man asked as he pressed into the younger man's side with half of the scarf.

"Oh, you know, saving my life," the Wonderlander replied, using the other half of the scarf to keep pressure on his left shoulder, "checking on Bear an' all that."

" 'S no problem," the older man told him, "had to save your life," Connor looked at him, questioningly, "you still owe me that drink."

Connor laughed, then grimaced in pain, before saying, "good point, I do owe you a drink."

The last time the team went out for drinks, he'd made Stephen drive him home, and as payment, the Mighty Hunter had told the Wonderlander he owed him a drink.

Just then, Abby came back with two men and a stretcher. They managed to lift Bear and started to take him away as the blonde told them that it was the escaped lion which attacked them. As she was leaving, the Home Office medic arrived and started to tend to Connor. The SF- Black, his name was- moved Stephen out of the way and knelt on Connor's right, where his side was cut. Black moved the scarf, before undoing Connor's waistcoat and cutting open his white t-shirt. The medic started to clean the two, long, thin lines which stretched from below the Wonderlander's right peck to above his hip. Once that was done, he stuck a large, white plaster over the shallow cuts.

"They won't need stitches," Black explained, "they aren't deep, the blood just made them look worse than they were and they've stopped bleeding now," he moved round to Connor's left side, to look at his shoulder.

The medic moved the other bit of the scarf and tore the side of Connor's waistcoat and shirt open. He was just cleaning the bite, when Cutter and the others arrived.

"Sit up, and lean against the car," Black told Connor, who did as told, "this one's gonna need a few stitches."

The medic pulled out some thread with a sterile needle, and started to stitch the deeper punctures. After that was done, he covered it with a large plaster, and got Connor to take his shirt off fully. The man then started to wrap a bandage around the Wonderlander's shoulder. The white cloth went from the top of Connor's left shoulder, under his arm, and across to under his right arm several times. Once that was done, Stephen pulled a spare shirt out from the back of the car and gave it to the injured man.

As Connor was standing and putting the shirt on, Cutter walked over and said, "look, you should go home."

"No," the student disagreed, "I'm gonna stay," he started to button up the shirt, "I'm fine, Cutter."

Stephen, Cutter and Connor looked at the medic, who replied, "medically, there's no reason he can't stay."

Cutter turned back to Connor, "there's no way I'm going to be able to stop you from coming, is there?"

"Nope," the Wonderlander agreed and popped the 'p'.

The professor sighed, "oh, fine."

Connor smiled and the medic said, "I'll just get you a sling, and you'll be good to go."

* * *

The group then used the dogs and the oscilloscope to find the location of the wounded creature. The trail lead to animal crate storage. A great place for a lair.

"Whatever it is, it's right on top of his," Cutter said as the man looked over Connor's shoulder at the beeping device.

"The dogs should be going crazy," Stephen replied.

The group made their way into the building, the SFs keeping an eye out for any danger.

"It's in here somewhere," Connor told them.

"Cutter!" Stephen called, "you need to see this."

Said man walked over, with Connor following.

"My, god, it's given birth," the Scotsman stated.

"They're actually kinda cute," the Wonderlander said.

"There are three bodies back here," Stephen told them.

"She's storing them to feed her young," Helen said, sounding somehow happy about it, in a twisted way.

"Not so cute," Connor muttered, "and, anyway, how do we know it's a female?" he knew that the Jabberwocky species were nurtured by the males, while the females flited from partner to partner. The oscilloscope started to go haywire and he shouted, "we've got company!"

"Where the hell is it?!" Ryan shouted.

Everyone was looking up, until there was a yell of an SF being killed. In the chaos of people shooting at it whenever it came into sight, Cutter grabbed one of the babies and ran. The creature gave chase. The sound of nine gun shots, breaking glass and growling filled the air. People started running to check on Cutter, Stephen in the lead with Connor. When they got there, they saw the professor standing over the creature. It was dead.

* * *

After they packed up all the baby Future Predators, along with the body of the adult, everyone left the zoo. Cutter went back to the Home Office with the SFs, Predators and Helen. Stephen had told Connor that they should go for a drink. The Wonderlander agreed. At the bar, the assistant professor asked the student how his dissertation was coming as they sat at a booth and looked over the menu.

"I've finished it, actually," Connor told his friend.

"Really?" the man sounded surprised, "when did that happen?"

"I put it on Cutter's desk when I was at the university, earlier today," he said.

The waiter came over to take their order. They both got a beer, with a plate of cheesy chips to share. Connor was thankful, at this point, that he was ambidextrous so that he could still eat without difficulty.

"How's the arm?" Stephen asked.

Connor shrugged, "it's alright. Stings a bit, but Black gave me some oxycodone to use for the pain for a week, some Augmentin to prevent infection and some anti-sickness tablets for any side effects."

"Should you be having a beer if you've had all those meds?" the older man asked.

"Good point," the younger nodded, before yawning, "think the meds are having a negative effect on my brain."

"You want me to take you home?" Stephen offered.

Connor nodded and yawned again. Drossiness: a side effect of painkillers. The assistant professor stood and pulled his friend up, sticking close by in case the younger man needed help. After Stephen pulled up outside Lester's apartment, Connor got out of the car and insisted on going up himself.

"Are you sure?"

"I'll be fine," Connor yawned again, "I'm just a little tired."

Stephen nodded, "ok, I'll see you tomorrow."

The black haired man nodded, before turning and making his way up to the flat. He tripped on the stairs a couple of times. As he lay in bed, Connor decided that he would not be able to stay on the oxycodone.

* * *

Today, they were sending the babies back to the future (Connor enjoyed the irony of that sentence), and were setting up a permanent camp in the past. Due to all that happened yesterday, Connor had decided to go with a more Hatter-like outfit today. He was wearing purple suit trousers, a black button-up shirt, a black waistcoat, and a metallic purple tie, along with a black version of his Hatter jacket, a black hat, his gloves, and combat boots. Connor was just amazed that Lester showed up to the gathering, actually.

As it got to the time for Cutter to go through the Anomaly, everyone gathered around to see. Connor winced as he rolled his shoulder; that bite was killing him since he decided not to take the painkillers.

Claudia walked up to Cutter and started to ask him not to go. He still went. But, just as he was about to go through, Claudia walked up and kissed him. Thoroughly. Everyone awkwardly looked away. Cutter went through the Anomaly with Helen.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Connor suppressed another wince as his shoulder stabbed at him.

"You didn't take the painkillers, did you?" Stephen asked him.

"It was effecting my mind," he explained, not looking away from the Anomaly and the readings he was taking, "I can't have that while I'm working."

"If you're in pain, you shouldn't be here," his friend argued.

"I'm fine. I've had worse."

"Connor-"

"Seriously, Stephen, I'm fine."

The older sighed, before leaving the topic alone.

* * *

"Uhuh…yeah…and, you're sure," he was saying into the phone.

"Connor?" Stephen asked.

"There's no chance you could've made a mistake?"

"Connor, give me the phone," Stephen held out his hand, Connor put his hand up as well.

"Ok, I understand, thanks," he hung up, a worried and confused look on his face.

"The lab?" the older man asked.

"Yeah," the younger paused, "the creature was, undoubtedly, a male."

"It's gotta be female," Mighty Hunter frowned, "it was nurturing its young."

"Maybe, in this species, that's a job for the boys."

"It better be, because otherwise," there was a nervous pause, "there's another still out there."

There was a flickering light and a strange sound from the Anomaly. The team moved closer to the shattered mirror, cautiously observing.

"What happened?" Claudia asked as she moved closer to them.

"Not sure," Connor replied as he looked at his compass.

"Did you see something?" the woman asked.

"Nothing," Stephen shook his head, slight horror dawning on him.

"Is the Anomaly getting weaker?" Claudia swallowed.

"No. There's no change," Connor frowned.

* * *

Cutter stepped back through the Anomaly, looking slightly scared and sad.

"What happen?" Lester asked, when the Scotsman didn't speak, "did you find the Anomaly?"

"Captain Ryan didn't make it," Cutter replied, eyes downcast, "and all his men are dead. Whatever happens, nobody goes back through."

The team looked away, sad at the loss of their friends.

"Well, I'm sorry to break your new rule so soon, Nick, but, um…I'm not staying" Helen said, with a twisted smirk.

"Well, then, what did you come back through for?" Cutter sounded pissed; annoyed with his ex-wife's manipulation.

"Oh, just a little, um," Helen replied, looking at Stephen, "unfinished business. You see, Nick, it was just one of those things; I was lonely, and you didn't seem to care about me, and Stephen was so…sweet, and…attentive."

"Shut up, Helen," Stephen glared.

"Oh, you mean, you never told him?" Helen didn't sound surprised, just…pleased, "um, oh dear."

"What an extremely awkward moment," Lester piped up and Connor rolled his eyes.

"You see, I don't want to be on my own anymore," Helen continued as if Lester weren't there. She spoke to Stephen, "you once said you'd do anything for me if I gave you the chance, well here it is; come with me."

"Don't do this," Stephen frowned and shook his head.

"Well, falling for one of your students is never a good idea, but, um…sometimes these things just happen, you know," the woman admitted, now standing by the lab technician.

"How could you keep that from me for so many years?" Cutter asked as he turned to Stephen.

"There was no point in saying anything," Stephen stepped around Helen and closer to his friend, "it was a long time ago, in the past," he was pleading now.

"The past has a habit of coming back these day, doesn't it?" Helen spoke up.

There was an awkward silence as people looked at each other, Connor wincing, this time not in physical pain.

"Well, are you coming?" the spiteful woman asked Stephen, getting impatient.

"You know what I'd forgotten, Helen?" Stephen's voice was thick with emotion, "sometimes you can be a real bitch" the manipulative woman smirked. Stephen turned and walked away, Helen leaving through the Anomaly.

Everything was peaceful and quiet. Connor believed that it was all going to be alright. That was, until Cutter spoke up.

"Where's Claudia?" he had asked.

Everyone looked at him, blankly. Except Connor; he knew what was happening.

"Claudia?" Lester asked.

"Where's Claudia Brown?" Cutter asked back.

The boss shrugged, "I don't know anyone with that name."

The professor looked completely horrified, "no, come on, where is she?"

"We really don't know what you're talking about" Stephen agreed, looking worried.

"We've never heard of her," Abby agreed.

"Look, you've been working with her every day for months, so don't tell me you don't know who she is," Cutter was getting angry; thinking it was some kind of sick joke.

"No idea," Lester was confused, though he was trying not to show it, "sorry."

Cutter advanced on the suit, "where is she?" he asked angrily.

"Cutter, we don't know her," Stephen stepped forward.

"No one knows her," Abby told him.

"Wait, something's wrong; something's gone wrong," Cutter paced back towards the Anomaly. The man wasn't making much sense, "this isn't right, something's happened: something's- something's changed; we've done something, we've-" he took a breath, "something that we've done has changed the past, and she's not here anymore," he looked back at the Anomaly, "oh my God" Cutter looked at the people watching him warily, "oh my God."

 **A/N: So, after reading this through, I realised that Stephen & Connor's interactions might seem a bit slashy, but it wasn't intended that way. You can take it that way, if you want, but it can also be bromance. I also can't tell the difference between 'lose', 'loose', & 'loss' (same as 'choose' & 'chose') so sorry if it got them mixed up somewhere. Anyway, please vote:**

 **Connor(Hatter)/Stephen 0**

 **Connor(Hatter)/Jack (of Hearts) 0**

 **Connor(Hatter)/Becker 1**

 **Other (specify) 0**

 **I've** reposted the last chapter **due to the fact that it was the unedited version. And, I'm so so sorry, but I seem to have lost the plot (quite literally; the paper with my plan written on has vanished) and so, I'm now struggling from a case of writer's block (the horror!). Due to this, I've decided to end this fic here & will pick up where I left off with a sequel as soon as my writer's block has cleared. I will be posting other one-shots because I looked up how to clear writer's block & someone suggested a 30 day challenge, so that's what I'm gonna do.**

 **Thank you everyone for reading, following, favorating and reviewing! Hope you enjoyed the story,**

 **Shunters**


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